St Francis of Paola (1416-1507) hermit
Francis
was born, at Paola in Calabria on the toe of Italy, of parents
remarkable for their holiness. Because he had poor eyesight, his parents
vowed that they would give him for a whole year to a Franciscan convent
and as a result of this vow he was instantly cured.
At thirteen he went
for the year to a monastery near his home and from there went on to
Assisi and Rome.
When he came home aged nineteen in 1435, he dedicated
himself to a life of solitude, setting himself up as a hermit in a
cave by the sea near his parents' home.
Hermits of St Francis of Assisi
A year later he
was joined by two companions and they lived together in the spirit of St
Francis, calling themselves the "Hermits of St. Francis of Assisi".
As
others joined, many communities were established with great popular
support in Calabria and Sicily.
In 1471, the Archibishop of Cosenza
granted them exemption from his jurisdiction so that they could go
further afield and in 1473 Pope Sixtus IV gave them the status of
mendicant friars.
Miraculous crossing to Messina
A story from this
time tells that in the year 1464, after Francis and his companions were
refused passage by a boatman while trying to cross the Strait of Messina
to Sicily, he put out his cloak on the water, tied one end to his staff
as a sail, and sailed across the strait with his companions.
This has
led to his being named as patron of seafarers.
“The least of all the faithful”
The charity and
austerity of the brothers attracted many.
They had a rule of perpetual
abstinence from all flesh- and white-meat, except in case of grave
illness and by order of a physician. Usually there was only one priest
in each community.
Their distinguishing mark was their humility, from
which they came to be called the Minimi, (= “the least of all the faithful”. cf Matt 25:40).
Gifts of discernment and prophecy
After his order
got approval from the Holy See, Francis became famous for his
discernment of consciences and his gift of prophecy.
When he rebuked the
King of Naples for wrong-doing, he became a marked man, but his
reputation for holiness became widespread.
In France
In 1482 King Louis XI of France
(1461-83) was facing death in great fear. He especially requested
Francis of Paola to come to him.
The pope of the time - Sixtus IV -
commanded Francis to go.
He arrived in time to prepare the king for his
death and was with him when he died. Louis's two successors, Charles
VIII, who was only a boy of thirteen when he succeeded to the throne
(1483-98), and later his cousin Louis XII (1498-1515), were keen to keep
Francis at the French court, frequently consulting him.
They built a
monastery for the Minimi at Plessis and at other locations in France.
Francis's death
So the last twenty-five years
of Francis's life were spent entirely in France.
Though he wished to
return to Italy, he was unable to do so.
He spent the last three months
of his life in entire solitude, preparing for death and he died on Good
Friday 1507 while the Passion according to St. John was being read to
him.
He was canonised in 1519.
Influence
The Order of the Minimi still exists
today, especially in Italy.
The story from his early years about Francis
miraculously sailing on his cloak and staff across the Straits of
Messina from Italy to Sicily led to his being declared a patron of
seafarers in 1943.
A piano studio by Liszt entitled St Francis of Paola Walking on the Water is still a popular music piece today.